Statkraft left with no Norwegian floating wind partners as Ocean Winds quits
Norwegian state power group 'assessing options' after second consortium member walks away
Statkraft was left with no bidding partners for Norway’s upcoming floating wind tender after Ocean Winds became the second to drop out of a three-company consortium with the Norwegian state power group.
Statkraft, Ocean Winds and Mainstream Renewable Power parent Aker in 2021 formed a big-name group planning to bid into the 1.5GW Utsira Nord tender for floating wind.
The tender has, however, been plagued with delays and uncertainty over the project’s profitability, and Statkraft said today: “Ocean Winds has informed Statkraft of its decision to prioritise other opportunities in its portfolio and will not participate in the upcoming Utsira Nord auction in Norway.
“Statkraft is assessing options to participate and succeed in the Utsira Nord license allocation.”
Aker CEO Øyvind Eriksen said the decision was “partly because the profitability of the project is still unclear, partly because of framework conditions, but also because Utsira is an opportunity that has been delayed time and time again.
“Delays cost money, and Mainstream has now decided that they can no longer prioritise it.”
The consortium was at the time of its formation touted as offering “the full value chain from development to delivery of offshore green energy to market”.